Senate Republicans Defend Trump Instead of Holding Him Accountable for Admitting He Deliberately Downplayed Coronavirus Threat

Trump Admitted on March 19 That He Intentionally Misled the Public: “I Wanted to Always Play It Down. I Still Like Playing It Down”

After a bombshell report and new audio recordings yesterday revealed that President Trump knew how dangerous the pandemic was early on but “admitted he kept that knowledge hidden from the public” and was “intentionally misleading Americans,” Senate Republicans dodged questions, remained silent, and even attempted to “mount a defense” and discredit the reporting — despite the fact that Trump’s comments are on tape.

Senate Republicans have for months refused to hold the Trump administration accountable for botching the response, ignoring warnings, failing to ramp up testing, and allowing the coronavirus to “silently spread” throughout the United States for weeks while telling Americans the virus will just “go away.” They’ve praised the president and bragged that they’ve worked “hand in glove” with the White House. Now, Senate Republicans’ response to the jaw-dropping audio recordings has been “deafening silence” or even defending the president’s actions.

MSNBC’s Robert Costa: “We heard a deafening silence among Republicans today on Capitol Hill, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who told reporters that he has not yet read the book. But this book is not going away.”

CNN: Vulnerable Republicans avoid criticizing Trump after admission to Woodward about downplaying virus
By Manu Raju and Alex Rogers
September 10, 2020

Key Points:

• Republican senators facing tough reelection races this fall steered clear of criticizing President Donald Trump after his stunning admission that he downplayed the severity of the crisis caused by the spread of coronavirus, dodging questions regarding his remarks or defending his overall response to the pandemic.

• For months, Republican senators have praised the President’s response to the health and economic crisis, the central issue in their political campaigns, even as polling suggests that a majority of Americans disapprove of it, recognizing many of their own races depend in large part on the President’s performance in November.

• GOP Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa declined to answer questions about Trump’s remarks on Wednesday. On Thursday, she told CNN, “I haven’t read it, I haven’t seen it, so give me a chance to take a look.”

• Arizona Sen. Martha McSally said on Wednesday that she also hadn’t reviewed the remarks, and her office didn’t respond to a request for comment on Thursday. Maine Sen. Susan Collins wouldn’t take questions on them as she left the Senate floor on Wednesday and Thursday.

• Texas Sen. John Cornyn said on Thursday that he wouldn’t comment since he did not have “personal knowledge” of the President’s remarks and that he didn’t “have any confidence in the reporting,” even though Trump has not disputed its accuracy and the remarks are on tape.

• “These stories seem to change every day,” said Cornyn.

• Other Republicans defended Trump, saying that it’s the President’s job to calm the nation during a crisis.

• North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis told CNN, “When you’re in a crisis situation, you have to inform people for their public health but you also don’t want to create hysteria.”

• South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who is also facing reelection, added, “I don’t think he needs to go on TV and screaming we’re all going to die.”

• Sen. David Perdue, the Georgia Republican in a tight race, said Thursday: “I understand trying to manage the psyche of the country and also look at the actions that he took. … I look at what he did — and it was certainly a strong response.”

• “Actions speak louder than words,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican on the ballot in the fall. “The President tends to speak loosely. We know that. That’s just his pattern.”

• Other vulnerable Republicans haven’t weighed in, including Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner, whose office did not respond to a request for comment.

• In some cases, the Republican senators themselves have underplayed or underestimated the crisis. At a recent Iowa event, Ernst told an attendee that she was also “so skeptical” of the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths, according to the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. (She later walked back those remarks.) And in April, Graham said on Fox that he thought the United States would be able to contain the virus from claiming more than 100,000 deaths.

• Overall, vulnerable Republican senators have praised Trump’s handling of the pandemic. Tillis said the President made the “right call” in his response, praising him for imposing travel restrictions from China in February and boosting the number of ventilators to aid those suffering from Covid-19.

• Graham said that “it became clear that the human transmission was greater than originally thought.” He noted that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said on February 29 that there was “no need” for people to change their lifestyles “at this moment.” (Fauci also warned then on the Today show about the threat of “community spread” from the coronavirus and cautioned that the risk level “could change.”)

• “He’s done as good a job as you can under the circumstances,” Cornyn told CNN.

HuffPost: Republicans Defend Trump After He Admitted Downplaying True Threat Of COVID-19
By Igor Bobic
September 9, 2020

Key Points:

• Republican lawmakers on Wednesday defended President Donald Trump after the revelation that earlier this year, he knowingly downplayed the threat of the coronavirus pandemic, which has resulted in millions of job losses and the deaths of some 190,000 Americans.

• Most Senate Republicans declined to comment on Wednesday when asked about the revelations, saying they wanted to read Woodward’s book first. But some of the president’s top GOP allies on Capitol Hill tried to mount a defense.

• “It doesn’t bother me,” Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota told reporters. “I don’t feel like he was ever lying to anybody. He’s a hopeful, upbeat, positive person. … The gravity of it, when it was becoming clearer, was also reflected by him.”

• Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina similarly argued that voters should take more heed of Trump’s actions amid the pandemic rather than his rhetoric ― which has been all over the place in recent months, from briefly encouraging mask-wearing and social distancing to mocking Democrats and reporters for wearing masks. 

• Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who, like Graham, is seeking reelection in November, agreed.

• “When you’re in a crisis situation, you have to inform people for their public health but you also don’t want to create hysteria,” Tillis said, declining further comment because he had not yet read Woodward’s book.

READ MORE:

AL – “Lee: ‘Your thoughts on the reports President Trump possibly downplayed COVID-19?’ Tuberville: ‘I didn’t see that.’ Lee: ‘It’s all over the news. Any comment?’ Tuberville: ‘No, I hadn’t… I don’t watch the news. I’m travelling and campaigning. Thank you.’” [Fox10, 9/9/20]

MT – “Daines’ re-election campaign refused four separate requests for a comment specifically addressing the president’s remarks to Woodward.” [Missoulian, 9/9/20]

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